First Data Grows TeleCheck Services Relationship with Wal-Mart and Sam's Club Stores

TeleCheck Services Inc., the world’s leading check acceptance service and subsidiary of First Data Corp., today announced that it has significantly expanded its check services relationship with Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores.

“Over the past year and a half we’ve developed a comprehensive plan for check processing. TeleCheck’s authorization, collections, and the TeleCheck Electronic Check Acceptance® (ECA®) service are integral parts of that strategy,” said Becky Garrett, Wal-Mart director of financial operations.

The expanded relationship encompasses four check service areas. First, Wal-Mart is increasing its use of the TeleCheck ECA service by introducing it into additional markets. The expanded use of the ECA service demonstrates Wal-Mart’s continuing commitment to providing consumers with convenient payment options at the point of sale.

Additionally, TeleCheck is providing Wal-Mart stores with a new way to process paper checks in real time. TeleCheck has the ability to differentiate high and low-risk paper check transactions at the point of sale and process them accordingly. For riskier transactions, TeleCheck is providing Wal-Mart its adaptive decisioning tools, while low-risk transactions are approved via a real-time negative database of returned check information.

TeleCheck is also now the primary provider of check collection services for Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores. This augments TeleCheck’s position as a leading provider of paper check collections services.

Finally, TeleCheck will host all shared negative database files for Wal-Mart. TeleCheck will provide returned check data to Wal-Mart, and Wal-Mart’s returned check data will continue to feed TeleCheck’s database.

“We are excited about the opportunity to expand our long-term partnership with Wal-Mart, and as a part of First Data’s point-of-sale strategy, are committed to ensuring our check services contribute to the success of Wal-Mart and meet the needs of their customers,” said Brian Mooney, who leads First Data’s TeleCheck business. “Wal-Mart continues to be a valued partner who shares our vision for focusing on consumer needs.”